1 on 11-11-11

Our little Kera is now 1...UNBELIEVABLE!

Here are her stats:

Weight: 22 lbs 10.5 oz (50-75 percentile)
Length: 30 inches (75 percentile)
Head Circumference: 47 cm (90 percentile)

We had a nice party for Kera and I will be posting pictures soon.

Kera is Walking

Yesturday, 3 days before her 1st birthday, Kera is walking on her own!

Now we have 2 girls to run after!

Halloween!!

We had a GREAT Halloween this year! We started our Halloween weekend by visiting the Shark Reef. The reef was definitely in the Halloween spirit!

Saturday night we headed to a Halloween party at one of my friends house. It was a fun all being there as a family!

Vampire family with their little bat:

Jim needing a beer...badly!

Our little princess killing the evil vampire!

On Sunday morning we went for a nice bike ride...well, it would have been nice if Kera wasn't screaming for half of it. We took our bikes to Red Rock and road a portion of the loop. It was a very hilly but very nice11 mile ride.

After a bit of football and naps for the girls it was time for a neighborhood Halloween potluck. Abby and Kera had a lot of fun being with theirs friends.

Finally, it was Monday, Halloween!! When Jim got home from work he made sure that his decorations were all in place...

Then, it was on to the pumpkins...

Finally it was time to get ready to go trick or treating!

Our little princess!

Vampire and the bat.

Time to meet up with the neighborhood friends!



Trick or Treating!

Abby loved running around with her friend Mermaid Maddie!

Finally it was time to check out the evenings loot...

Next year Abby is saying that she is going to be a witch...but I am sure she will change her mind a few times before next year.



Abby had a great time this year! It is very cute, she seems to think that Halloween is  a place. She keeps asking me to go to Halloween. It is had to explain to a 2 year old that she has to wait until next year.

Next up, Kera's birthday!

Dear Maggie

Unfortunately, on Sunday, October 23rd we lost a wonderful woman, Maggie Rogers, to cancer. She was Jim's aunt and a simply amazing woman. We will miss her very much!

Jim flew back to Pittsburgh for the funeral and even though it was a sad time he was happy to spend a few days with his extended family.

Maya's First Visit to Vegas

On the weekend of October 21st-23rd Remy, Joe, and Maya made the drive from Redondo Beach to Las Vegas for a visit. They arrived on Friday and we had a relaxing evening at home playing with the kids and eating Sushi Bomb. Abby was so happy to have them here that she had a hard time sleeping on Friday night. She was so tired on Saturday morning that she found the nearest "comfortable" place to sleep a bit more.

Saturday we spend the day in the pool:

After afternoon naps for everyone it was off to the Hofbrauhause for dinner. This is one of Abby's favorite restaurants...

 Abby loves the oompah polka music. Remy, Joe, and Maya seemed to enjoy it too.

 Kera enjoyed the big steins.

 This picture of Kera reminds me of a similar picture we have of Abby...

 Like sister like sister!

It was great having the girls together and we can't wait for our next visit!

New Hat and Mittens

Abby LOVES her new hat and mittens!

She thinks she looks like a bunny rabbit...a bunny rabbit in pajamas.

Pumpkins and Camping

On Columbus Day weekend we had 2 adventures, the pumpkin patch and a night of camping at Valley of Fire.

First, the pumpkin patch. This was our second annual trip to the Gilcrease Orchard to get our pumpkins. It really is a nice "orchard" for being in the middle of the desert. We were able to find 4 nice pumpkins and a 1/2 gallon of pear cider (YUM!).

Next up camping. Our plan was to go up to Mount Charleston for the night but...sometimes plans have to change. The nice thing about camping at Mount Charleston is that it is only 45 minutes away so, we could have always come home if needed but...Mount Charleston is over 6000 feet above sea level. Jim kept on asking me to check what the weather was going to be like on the mountain. Well, the Internet is wrong sometimes! When I checked the weather it told me that the nights were in the 50s but when we got there and talked to the ranger she told us that the lows have been around 29. This equalled a change in plans. There was no way that we were going to camp with the girls with it being that cold.  Next thought, Valley of Fire. This state park is on the dessert valley floor so, much warmer. Valley of Fire is usually only an hour away but not today since we were already traveling in the wrong direction. All that being said, we ended up with a great campsite:

The girls loved the tent:

Chewy was able to come with us too and he was one happy dog!

Getting him there was a bit difficult though. The back of the car was filled with all of our gear, the girls took up the back seat so, Chewy was int he front seat with me. Very crowded but it was worth it to see him so happy!

It was a lot of work to go camping for one night and Jim and I come home exhausted but the girls had fun and that is all that matters. Here are a few more of our camping pictures...